June Updates
St. Mark's June Lion
“And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days.”
— James Russell Lowell
Inside you'll find ways to make June special-- information on our worship services, new website, search process for a new priest, and Covid protocol updates....and more.
Please RSVP for Sunday Worship
June 6, 9:30am, Holy Eucharist, the Rev. Jake Andrews presiding and preaching
We continue to RSVP for Sunday worship in person. Since we are able to accommodate more of us inside the building, this allows our sacristans to prepare the elements for Eucharist. We still receive individual cups and wafers.
Please join us for worship at St. Mark’s for the second Sunday after Pentecost, June 6, at 9:30 a.m. The Rev. Jake Andrews, Assistant Professor of English at Whitworth University, will join us again to preach and celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Father Jake visited for the first Sunday of Lent.
Weather permitting, we will have coffee hour on the lawn at 10:45, followed by virtual coffee hour at 11:30am with Canon Andrea Farley, speaking about small group ministry.
If you want help signing up to attend in person, please email the church office: saintmark.moscow@gmail.com
If you plan to participate remotely, no reservation is necessary. You will receive the Zoom link and the service leaflet Saturday in the weekly worship email.
We look forward to worshiping with you, however you join in!
Sunday Worship Services in June
June 6, Holy Eucharist, the Rev. Jake Andrews presiding and preaching
June 13, Holy Eucharist, the Very Rev. Holladay Sanderson presiding and preaching
June 20, Morning Prayer, in person
June 27, Holy Eucharist, the Very Rev. Holladay Sanderson presiding and preaching
Parish Discernment & Conversation
Where: In person at St. Mark's
When: Sunday, June 13, 10:45am, following the service
At the suggestion of Bishop Gretchen Rehberg and Canon Susan Clevelely, St. Mark’s has begun a dialogue with the Troy Lutheran Church about the possibility of sharing a priest or pastor. Both congregations are seeking a half-time minister, so together, we might be able to recruit a full-time person who would divide her/his time between the two churches.
The form of this arrangement depends on the needs and priorities of each congregation. There is already one Lutheran-Episcopal partnership in our diocese, in Cashmere (near Wenatchee). After the June 13 service, please join us for a conversation about St. Mark’s mission and ministry. Our vicar, Holladay Sanderson, will facilitate the discussion.
Covid Protocols
We realize that more of us are vaccinated, and also that more of us are traveling this summer. In an effort to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible, we continue to observe COVID protocols. Face masks and social distancing are required. However, lectors, intercessors and the preacher will be allowed to unmask during their portions of the service. Windows and the front door will be open during the service. To keep the service to one hour or less, we will sing only two hymns and the Sanctus. Please keep your masks on while singing. These guidelines will be re-evaluated every month.
Weekend Food for Kids
Begins June 17 & 18
The last day of public school in Moscow is June 9, and that means that we’re gearing up for Weekend Food for Kids 2021.
For those who don’t know, Weekend Food for Kids is a summertime collaboration between St. Mark’s and the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse to provide food for children in need.
Last year we distributed nearly 2,100 bags. This year we’ll pack our first bags on Thursday, June 17. The first bags will be handed out on Friday June 18.
This year we will continue through the last Friday in August. The St. Mark’s team packs bags downstairs in the church beginning at 11:00 a.m. on Thursdays. The bags are distributed to the children at Lena Whitmore school on Fridays (the time is yet to be determined). If you’d like to volunteer or learn more, talk with Lois Clifton (208-835-4763), Carol Espe (208-882-5179), Nancy Lyle (208-596-2840), or Harriet Hughes (208-596-8307).
To donate, make your check payable to UUCP, with WFFK written on the memo line (important to ensure that the funds are properly allocated), and mail it to UUCP, P.O. Box 9342, Moscow, ID 83843. Donations of any amount are much appreciated. We also appreciate donations of clean used plastic grocery bags.
New Website
Moving into more streamlined systems and working together even more in these last couple of years, St. Mark's has really proven to be a supportive community. As a parish in transition, this has been so important. And during a pandemic, it's been a blessing to many of us. Our new website will hopefully increase our ability to connect and communicate well with each other and with our community around us!
Special thanks to Ethan Coy for his discerning and thoughtful work on our website, building it and editing it, and meeting with us to review progress these past months. Kenton Bird, Sarah Bergdahl, and Delphine Keim also provided insight and feedback at various points. We are still looking for photos of St. Mark’s people in action: worship, fellowship and outreach. If you have a few photos from the past two years, please email them to the office: saintmark.moscow@gmail.com.
This website will come to us, fresh and clean and ready to be kept up in a sustainable way. Our previous website had a lot of horns, bells, and whistles, which is great for someone with time and expertise in web creation. Our new site will give us the flexibility to update easily and incorporate the new tools we are using like YouTube, Instant Church Directory, Prayer Request link, parish calendar, and so much more. Watch for the new site to debut later this month!
Pledges and Offerings
As we gradually resume pre-COVID patterns, attendance at Sunday services is growing! It's been a while since we shared our Paypal link, so here it is below.
Thank you for your thoughtful gifts of time, prayer, energy, and financial resources. All of these things keep us growing together and reaching out in love. You may also mail your check to the church, 111 S. Jefferson or arrange for an autopayment from your bank.
Feeling Hot?
We thought so! This week's heat wave is unprecedented. Moscow recorded highs of 85 Tuesday and 91 Wednesday, both records for the date. Weather experts predict an even hotter July and August.
Fortunately, relief is in sight. A parishioner has pledged $4,000 as a challenge to the congregation to raise $11,000 needed for cooling our worship space during the summer. Another family has responded with a $1,000 gift. Can the rest of us raise $6,000 by Labor Day?
Our new furnaces, installed in March, were purchased with the intent of adding air conditioning. The A/C units also contain high-efficiency filters, which will remove particulates from the air during wildfire season.
Watch for a special mailing with details of this three-month fundraising campaign. Please put “air conditioning” in the memo line of your checks so we can track progress towards our goal. And thanks to the generous donors who initiated this project!
St. Mark's June Calendar
Friday, June 4, AA resumes meeting in person in the parish hall
Tuesday-Wednesday, June 15-16, Red Cross Blood Drive in the parish hall
Thursday, June 17, ArtWalk: St. Mark's is a host for this community event
Thursday/Friday, June 17 & 18, Weekend Food for Kids (pack bags Thursday; distribute bags Friday)
Thursdays/Tuesday, June 17, 22, 24, Book/CD/DVD Sale in the parish hall to benefit Weekend Food for Kids. Watch for more details next week!
Thursday/Friday, June 24 & 25, Weekend Food for Kids (pack bags Thursday; distribute bags Friday)
Church Directory
THANK YOU for all the updates!
Now, if you want to have a BBQ or bike ride with church friends, it's easy to find their phone number or address. Just hop online and look them up in our password-protected, secure online church directory.
You can access it online.
Just click the images below!
Or you can go to: https://members.instantchurchdirectory.com/
Use your email (the one you received this at, because it's what we have on file for you at the church) and make up your own password. See? Easy-peasy!
Then, upload a photo, add your birthday or anniversary, and make any necessary changes ANY time! You can also see all members and attendees who have given us permission to publish their contact information.
Look for these logos!
Church Office Hours
Rev. Holladay Sanderson is in the office daily Monday-Thursday
June 13-17
AND
June 27-July 1
Holladay's email is linked below, if you'd like to connect with her!
Sarah is working Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8-noon; and as needed! Look for weekly updates for open church hours in your Lion and little lion newsletters.
“Green was the silence, wet was the light,
the month of June trembled like a butterfly.”
— Pablo Neruda